


The lonely Girl

by Warflower



Series: Cain´s modern murder mysteries [5]
Category: Cain Saga and Godchild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cain POV, Cain is still not the best brother, Gen, M/M, Mentions of mental illness/child abuse/sedation/abduction and murder, Murder Mystery, This story does not contain original characters, technically- Mr. Hemming was only implied to exist in canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-08
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-10-16 10:50:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10569780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warflower/pseuds/Warflower
Summary: Merry starts schoolThings go downhill from there.





	

**Author's Note:**

> And here I thought this would be a short one, well, concrit is as always appreciated.

It was Monday, seven o´clock in the morning, Cain was up early and disgruntled about it.

-Riff, why can´t I sleep in? –

-Because Christmas Break is over, Spring term is beginning, and Merry is starting school- Riff refilled Cain´s cup of coffee, both of them were tea people, most of the time, but this warranted coffee.

-Well, I´m not the one going to school- Cain whined.

-But I am- Merry bounced into the dining room, already wearing her fancy school uniform -And as my big brother you are morally supporting me-

-She´s got you there- Riff smiled.

Cain groaned and slumped back into his chair. 

All straightened up when their uncle joined them. Neil Hargreaves saw it as his duty as a guardian to walk Merry to school personally. That Riff would have done it otherwise went without saying. 

After a quick breakfast, which Riff prepared but still was not allowed to participate in, which was totally unfair, it was time to send Merry on her way, so both Riff and Cain took turns hugging her and wishing her well.

-I bet you´ll make friends right-away- Riff assured her.

When it was his turn with the hugging Cain added -and if one of the girls is mean to you, tell me and I´ll poison her- 

Merry grinned up at him, teasing -Don´t worry big brother, it´s not that I´ve never been to school before, unlike some people…- 

-Hey, I am home-schooled- Cain played indignant. He grinned as Riff´s arms wrapped around them both, but the moment didn´t last as his uncle cleared his throat.

-Are you quite finished? – Their uncle asked, regarding his watch.

-Yes, time to go- Merry nodded and took uncle Neil´s hand, she waved back once and then they were on their merry way.

-You think she will manage? – Cain turned to Riff.

-That one? Certainly- Riff pulled him back into a hug, now unobstructed by Cain´s uncle.

-They grow up so fast- Cain chuckled, leaning into it.

 

Merry settled into Garden House Girls school quickly, academically speaking at least, she had taken up learning with Riff before and during Christmas Break, so if any difference in level of education between her and her classmates remained after that, it had soon disappeared completely. 

What worried Cain was that she had yet to make any friends, Merry was a social butterfly, charming everyone she met, so making friends should have come naturally. 

According to Merry none of the other girls were bullying her, they weren´t exactly excluding her either, it was more a lack of active inclusion on their- and shyness on Merry ´s part. She had never interacted with children of the upper class before and she had yet to get used to it.

But what annoyed her most was her homeroom teacher Mrs. Hemming.

-She´s always so nice, asks me how I feel, how my family is, if I have found any friends yet…- She complained one evening. 

-And? – Cain asked, not exactly getting why being nice was a bad thing.

-I don´t want her pity! – Merry was pouting – I lost my mother, that sucks, sure, but it doesn´t mean I can´t be happy. It´s not exactly ordinary but I have family! – 

Cain smiled, touched. -It seems she´s a little close-minded there -

-And I´m the only one who´s not been raised filthy rich-

-So, you are worried she looks down on you. I get it. – Cain ruffled her hair. -I´ll talk to her, okay? -

Merry seemed mollified, now that she was taken seriously -Okay. –

 

Cain kept his word, next Monday he and Riff waited for Merry when the school let out. 

-You go ahead with Riff, while I talk to… Mrs. Hemming, was it? – 

Merry nodded -Thanks-. Riff took her bag, gave Cain a last glance and turned to go, Merry hopping along beside him. 

Cain found Mrs. Hemming in her classroom, sorting through some papers. Tests maybe, he wondered.

She was an attractive woman in her mid-thirties, dark blonde hair tied back and dressed as sharply as would be expected of someone who taught at one of London´s best elementary schools. The black was surprising, though.

-Good afternoon. Mrs. Hemming? – Cain knocked on the doorway. 

She looked up -Yes, with whom do I have the pleasure? – 

-Cain Hargreaves- He introduced himself -I´m Merry-Weather´s brother-

She nodded in recognition. -Come in, take a seat-

Cain did. She too settled into a chair. 

-This is about Merry-Weather? She seems to settle in well– She asked.

-In a way- Cain began -She has noted that you are exceptionally nice to her, trying to strike up private conversations, especially out of class – 

She looked embarrassed -I didn´t notice- she fingered the hem of her blazer -It was unprofessional of me, I´m sorry-. She looked small, sad.

-It´s just, I recently lost my Lucy, my daughter, - she explained -it´s hard enough coming here every day and seeing all these girls, growing up happy, she was the same age as them, and Merry- She smiled sadly -they look so much alike, I must have projected something of Lucy onto her. – 

Cain nodded, this wasn´t pity, this was grief. A mother who lost her daughter and girl who lost her mother, of course she would seek a connection, unconsciously trying to fill that void.

-It´s fine- Cain assured her, taking her hand to comfort her. She pulled back. 

-Sorry. I´ll talk to Merry, she´ll understand- 

Mrs. Hemming was teary eyed but didn´t allow herself to cry. -She´s a perceptive girl, your sister-

-A little too much so, from time to time- Cain made himself smile. -I´m going to head home. Thanks for your time- 

-Have a nice afternoon- They shook hands and Cain departed.

 

-Oh my god oh my god ohmygod – Merry stared at him with big blue eyes -I´m so sorry I shouldn´t have presumed… -

-Merry- Cain took her hands -What you presumed was perfectly reasonable. You didn´t have all the information, that´s no fault of yours-

-But I was cold to her, she was being nice and I was cold to her. She must think that I hate her- 

-I´m certain she doesn´t- Cain tried to comfort his sister -She is a teacher, you treated her like a teacher, there´s nothing cold in that, she was being unprofessional- 

Merry contemplated this.

-That she´s a teacher doesn´t mean she can´t be my friend. – Merry decided, -Riff became your friend, too, while he was working for our father. – 

The version of that story Merry knew had been heavily edited. 

-It´s not really the same thing… - Cain tried to protest. It wasn´t, it was nowhere near the same thing, a fact Cain was immensely grateful about.

-But- Cain caught himself, remembering that several of Merry ´s acquaintances were adults -You are right. I´m certain you will be great friends. –

Merry nodded, enthusiastically set onto her new plan.

 

-And how is the befriending thing going? – Cain asked. 

It was movie night and Merry had picked one of her favourite Disney movies, Cain sat curled up in Riff´s side like he always did and uncle Neil was throwing them glances that could kill. Before long he would harrumph and storm out, Cain reckoned.

-Great- Merry declared -Today we were talking after class and she said she didn´t have much time today because she was tutoring another student after school, but then she asked if I wanted to come along! – 

Merry was practically shining. Cain motioned for her to continue.

-She´s tutoring this girl called Rebecca, she´s autistic. That means she´s often not really there, dreams a lot, you know? – Cain nodded, he was no expert on autism but dissociation was occasionally a part of it -She learns slower that most people, so we´re at the same level, even though she´s twelve. –

-Mrs. Hemming said she´s more there recently, mentally speaking. She´s so beautiful, like a doll. She said her mom always calls her ´her little doll´, isn´t that sweet? – 

Cain smiled at his sister´s obvious happiness.

-The whole afternoon it was only the three of us and Bertha, her nanny. First, we did some lesson´s and while Rebecca was busy with her math I talked to Mrs. Hemming, she even showed me some photos of Lucy, her daughter. -

Merry ´s smile faded –Rebecca hadn´t known about Lucy until then, I´m sorry I told her, she seemed sad afterwards. – She fell quiet.

-Of course, learning such a thing would make her sad- Cain broke his sisters silence -Remember how sad you were when I told you. –

-But that´s it- Merry explained -I´m not sure if she was sad because of Lucy or because Mrs. Hemming hadn´t told her-

-Anyways, - She continued -We played with her dolls afterwards, she has so many dolls- Merry´s eyes where shining again -She even said she had a life sized one, once, but it broke. Possibly when they moved, they moved six month ago…-

Merry kept talking about her new friends for a good while, the film went ignored. Nobody really minded.

 

Two days later Mrs. Hemming did not come to school, she had not called in sick, so there was some confusion, but as everybody assumed she had fallen ill they we´re simply relieved that the class test scheduled for that day was delayed. 

The next day it was confirmed she was missing. 

-What if she is dead? – Merry was sobbing, Riff had picked her up and had placed her on his hip like one would a much smaller child, his height again being advantageous. 

-I´m sure she´ll be fine- Cain tried to comfort her, clumsily patting her shoulder. -She will be found and she will need some time to recover, but she will get better-

-Like Drew? – Merry asked.

Cain tasted bile, he swallowed it down, forcing a smile -Just like Drew-

Merry nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. -You can let me down, Riff-

Once her feet had returned safely to the floor she turned to Cain and stated -Then we have to find her. – 

-I´m sure the police are more qualified for this than we are- Cain tried to dissuade her, but there was a fire in her eyes.

-We have to do something, and the more people that are looking, the better- 

Cain sighed, -Okay, tomorrow we´ll check in with Belgravia and inquire what they know so far-

-Yes, - Merry was visibly exited -I´ve never been inside a police station! – 

-Oh, - Cain realised -I meant myself and Riff-

-But I want to come along, you´re never taking me along- Merry pouted, she had turned on her puppy eyes.

-See- Cain tried to reason -We want to find her as soon as possible, and you´ll be in school tomorrow-

Merry, of course saw straight through his excuse. 

-No, - She raised her voice, now angry -now it´s Merry go to school, last time it was Merry distract the secretary, Merry go ahead with Drew, or go shopping with uncle, or wait for Riff, it´s just excuses, you´re always leaving me out. It´s unfair, big brother -

-There are dangerous people out there, Merry- Cain was pleading. 

Obviously, it was the wrong thing to say, because Merry snorted. 

-I know that. One of them killed my mother, remember? He still hasn´t been caught. – She turned on her heel and stomped down the stairs. 

Speechless Cain stood, downstairs her door banged. 

-I´m just trying to protect her- he looked up at Riff -Is that so wrong? – 

-No, in itself it is even quite admirable- Cain stepped close, seeking comfort, Riff understood, as his hands started carding through Cain´s hair -but maybe some honesty from time to time would help-

Cain frowned, honesty, no, that wouldn´t help, if it involved talking about Drew it would make things even a whole lot worse, not to mention the whole mess with their father. He decided to stop thinking about it and closed his eyes, quietly enjoying Riff´s attentions.

 

Since Merry had still been sulking in the morning Cain went to the police around lunch. He did not expect much when he asked if he could talk to Detective Chief Inspector Landor, the DCI was out of the house, but Detective Constable Burgess was not and he was not pleased with Cain snooping around.

-Just because you were helpful in one case, that doesn´t make you Sherlock Holmes- 

He was leaning over his desk, towering over Cain in an attempt at intimidation. It didn´t work, it was irritating at most. 

-Look, this is my sister´s homeroom teacher, she just wants some information- Cain tried to pacify him. 

-You, are a civilian- Burgess explained, tone high and mighty -and I have enough on my plate with two missing women without you interfering, so if you would please let me return to my work-

-Fine- Cain rose and added, smirking-Thanks for the information-

-Which information? – Burgess called after him, too late.

There were two, Mrs. Hemming was not the only woman who had gone missing. Cain vaguely recalled hearing about a disappearance on the news, but the woman in question, a Mrs. Krudge, had been known to be both reclusive and unstable, so Cain had assumed suicide, wrongly it seemed. 

 

By the time school let out Cain had searched all the phonebooks they had until he found Mrs. Hemming´s home address, she lived in Acton, and indeed a Mr. Hemming did live there, too. 

So, Cain wrote Cleo and Oscar, asking the former to hang out after school, and the latter to babysit Merry, both agreed. 

As Oscar would be the one to pick Merry up after school he took the tube to wait for Cleo when the school let out. 

Cleo was in the last year at Holland Park School, of course his parents would have preferred Eton, but Cleo´s grades, while good weren´t that good, Holland Park was not a bad alternative, his parents agreed. At least Cleo could be expected to attend university, the same could not be said for his brother Orlando.

-Hey- Cain greeted as Cleo emerged the school building. 

-Hello, - Replied Cleo -I thought we would be meeting over at yours? – 

-No, we´re making a little excursion- 

Cleo looked doubtful -Where? – 

-Acton- 

Resigned, Cleo asked -Does this involve your scandalous stuff? 

-Which scandalous stuff? – Cain asked

-Either poison or murder – 

-Neither- Cain assured him -only a missing person-

Cleo shook his head -And that is so much less scandalous- a smile was playing on his lips.

-You don´t mind that I´m still in uniform? – he inquired.

-Not in the least. Let´s go- Cain slung an arm over Cleo´s shoulder. -We have to question a husband-

-Apropos husband, - Cleo asked, they had taken the Central line east at Notting Hill Gate and were well on their way to North Acton station -Where is Riff? –

Cain snorted -First of all, excuse me, we´re not married, we´re not even dating-

-Yet- Cleo commented, he might be less perceptive than Merry, but Cleo wasn´t blind.

-Yet- Cain conceded -Second, I had an argument with Merry last night, so I asked Riff to make all her favourite foods to mollify her-

-That´s nice- Cleo said, -Orlando never cares about such things-

Orlando again, Cain really wished to punch the jerk, at least Cleo would be eighteen next month and Orlando officially disinherited. 

-Yes, she was upset, because I always left her out from my scandalous stuff- Cain pouted. -I´m just trying to keep her safe. –

-If you want to mollify her- Cleo asked, carefully -Where is she now, while we are doing, well, scandalous stuff- 

-I left her with Oscar – Cain answered. -What´s wrong? - 

The look on Cleo´s face was slightly disbelieving. 

-Wait, so instead of letting her in on your adventuring you are leaving her out again, alone at home with Oscar, whose company is not exactly her favourite… I´m just hoping Riff´s dinner is that good. – 

Realising he had gotten agitated Cleo fell silent, his shoulders hunched together, as he tried to disappear into is seat.

-It´s okay- Cain tried to reassure him -You have a point. I´ll get her a teddy. – 

 

Mr. Hemming was a gaunt looking man around forty, the gaunt look might have been caused by his wife´s disappearance, that or his daughter´s death, Cain wasn´t sure, probably both.

-Hello Mr. Hemming, my name is Cain Hargreaves and this is Cleo- Cain introduced them, Cleo awkwardly waved in greeting -My sister is one of your wife´s students may we come in? – 

They were invited inside and politely declined a cup of tea. 

Apparently Mr. Hemming had spoken to several police officers already, he agreed with Cain that DCI Landor seemed competent while DC Burgess was a little too full of himself. 

He told them that his wife had no known enemies, no possible lovers, no reason to leave. The last time he saw her she had gone out late because she had apparently forgotten something, he had neither asked what nor where, he had been watching football. 

All in all, the questioning was not very productive. 

 

Returning home to Knightsbridge, they were confronted with a stony-faced Riff and an apologetic Oscar, apparently Merry had slipped away while she and Oscar were playing hide and seek, the idiot had searched the entire townhouse before realising something was amiss and informing Riff, fantastic.

Of course, Merry might have just chosen to visit Rebecca, but as nobody had any clue what her surname was, or where she lived, they settled into the drawing room and waited.

Cleo left at twenty to six, wishing them good luck with their waiting.

Half past seven Oscar said his goodbyes, he assured them to check Merry ´s school and all the playgrounds in the vicinity, without success. 

At eight o´clock Cain pulled out his phone, there was no way Merry would be out that late. He called his uncle who was visiting relatives, then he grabbed Riff and his coat and headed over to Belgravia.

This time DCI Landor was there, while Burgess was out of the house. Hearing about Merry ´s disappearance he asked the usual questions.

Who saw her last. -Oscar

Had she any reason to run off. -Her fight with Cain.

Had they any idea where she would have gone. -That girl Rebecca.

What did they know about Rebecca.

-She met her accompanying her teacher Mrs. Hemming, the one that disappeared. – Cain explained. She is twelve years old, autistic, apparently quite pretty and her nanny is called Bertha, that´s all I know, sorry. – 

DCI Landor stared at him. 

-Do you know her? – Cain asked.

-That´s Rebecca Krudge-

Cain´s eyes widened in understanding. -Krudge like the first missing woman? – 

-Yes, - Landor confirmed, now agitated. -Her daughter-

He started shuffling through his papers and shouting out orders.

-We knew Mrs. Hemming had a student, but we didn´t know it was Rebecca- 

Half the precinct seemed to be settling into motion making calls to obtain a search permit, then preparing to leave, Cain and Riff too readied themselves.

-May we hitch a ride- Riff asked -I fear we are not in possession of a car-. 

Landor wasn´t pleased but he allowed it, if Rebecca or Bertha had indeed kidnapped Merry it would be good for her family to be there afterwards.

 

The Krudge house was in southern Belgravia, it was slightly smaller than the Hargreaves´ townhouse but spoke of money nonetheless. 

The police cars pulled up in front of the door, partly blocking the street. 

Cain and Riff watched from the pavement as Landor went up the front door and rang the doorbell.

-Police- he shouted -open the door- 

There was shuffling inside.

-We know you are responsible for the abduction of two women, we have a search permit for your property- 

Still the door remained closed.

-If you don´t open we´ll knock down the door- 

Cain would like to see them try, the door appeared to be solid wood.

-If you don´t leave the girl dies- called a voice from inside, a woman´s voice not a girl´s. Bertha. 

-She is my doll you can´t have her- a younger voice added, Rebecca. 

Landor stilled their abduction had just turned into a hostage situation. 

-Okay, all of us, we´re not doing anything rash- Landor declared, hoping to include Bertha and Rebecca.

Cain tugged at Riff´s coat-sleeve, -Come on, let´s do something rash- 

Riff raised a questioning eyebrow, Cain indicated the side-street leading to the back door, before long the police too would try entering or at least guarding it, but for now the way was free.

The stairway that led down to the servant´s entrance was indeed unguarded. When Cain pulled out his lock-picks Riff frowned disapprovingly. 

-Well talk later- Cain promised -Now we save Merry. – 

Once inside the building they stood inside the former servant´s quarters. Usually Cain would have liked to brag about his breaking and entering skills but there was a stench in this cellar, so bad all Cain wanted to do was leave. 

Naturally Riff tried to locate it. 

-It´s a corpse- He told Cain. As a former student of medicine Riff had already seen several corpses, in varying states of decay. 

When he was certain, which door emitted the stench, he opened it, another wave of smell flooded over Cain, he did not try to enter the room let alone approach the corpse, naturally Riff did both. 

-A woman- he informed Cain -Maybe two weeks dead, roughly-

Cain rolled his eyes. -Mrs. Krudge? – 

-Probably- Riff agreed -She´s dressed up like a doll- there was distaste in his voice. 

Riff exited the room and they closed the door, slightly weakening the stench. 

-I guess we should look what´s in the other rooms- Cain decided. 

The next room contained boxloads of syringes and infusions. Mostly ketamine and etomidate.

-They kept her sedated- Cain noted -Do you think they mixed those? Is that what killed her- 

-Mixing them wasn´t necessary- while Cain was fairly solid in medicine, Riff was still the expert. -Many people die of pneumonia after five days of etomidate infusion, it impacts the steroid production. Even its use for sepsis is controversial, let alone sedation- 

-Should have stuck with the ketamine- Cain shrugged. 

He checked the last of the three basement rooms. 

Mrs. Hemming looked at him with empty eyes, make-up on point she was dressed like the dolls that were arranged to surround her, it was a haunting picture, only broken by the infusion dripping sedatives into her blood.

Cain felt Riff moving behind him. -That´s probably etomidate. –

-Should we remove it? – Cain turned to look up at Riff, 

-Leave that to the experts, I wouldn´t want her to regain consciousness like this-

They left the door open, so the police would have an easier job finding her. Then they climbed the stairs up to the entrance hall.

Bertha was a stout, heavy-set woman in her late fifties, she held Merry to her front, syringe held against her neck. 

Merry was crying but silent, Rebecca padding at her tears with a handkerchief.

-Don´t worry Merry- Rebecca tried to sound comforting -don’t worry, I won´t let them take you away, you can stay with me and we will be together forever-

Let her go Cain called out.

Bertha spun around. -Don´t move or I will kill her- 

Cain and Riff stood still, both slowly raising their hands to indicate they were unarmed. 

-You are planning to drug her like you did Mrs. Hemming- Cain´s voice was shaking. 

-She is my doll- Rebecca screamed – We will play together forever-

-How are you planning to play together when she is dead- Cain forced himself to ask. 

-She won´t die- 

-She will die, just like your mother died and Mrs. Hemming will die in three days if she doesn´t get medical attention soon- 

-Three days? – Now Rebecca seemed confused.

-You see- Riff spoke up -Etomidate is not a good sedative, while ketamine is applicable long-term, etomidate is not, when continuously administered it kills half its recipients within five days. – 

Rebecca had gone still. Then she hiccupped, tears began to flow. -But we don’t have that, that etomithing, we only have the one mommy gave me, right Bertha- She turned to her nanny. 

Bertha hesitated a moment to long and Rebecca turned against her -You gave them that other thing? You killed my doll- She ripped the syringe from Bertha´s hand and stuck it into her leg. 

Bertha screamed. Rebecca fell to her knees, sobbing. Riff took the opportunity to restrain Bertha, and free Merry from her hold. Rebecca didn´t seem like she would put up a fight. 

Cain meanwhile opened the door.

 

The horrible truth went thus, after her husband left the family, Mrs. Krudge had become possessive of Rebecca, scarily so. 

She had taken Rebecca´s finishing of elementary as an opportunity, instead of letting her go to High school she decided to move. Nobody in Belgravia knew them, and nobody knew that Rebecca was not, in fact, autistic. 

She had hired Bertha a former nurse from a retirement home, who had been suspected to have killed several of its residents, but since nobody could prove a thing, she had been simply let go.

Mrs. Krudge hired her to sedate Rebecca with Ketamine, turning her into a living doll, in hopes that people were uninformed about- and prejudiced against autism enough, that Rebecca´s drugged state was mistaken for mentally ill. 

Rebecca who had been repeatedly told, that she and her mother belonged together, because she was her mother´s ´little doll´ had begun to question why her mother wasn´t her doll too. So, one day, when the drug had almost worn of, she stole some ketamine and injected it into her mother, who she then locked in with the rest of her dolls in the old servant quarters. 

Bertha, angel of death that she was, did now what she hadn´t had the opportunity to do with Rebecca. She swapped ketamine for etomidate and thereby killed her former employer. 

Meanwhile Rebecca´s health was improving steadily as she wasn´t constantly drugged anymore.

Jealous of Merry ´s friendship with Mrs. Hemming she turned latter into one of her dolls when opportunity presented itself over a forgotten class test. 

Merry had only tried to comfort poor Rebecca, mentioning the fight with her brother, Rebecca decided, that Merry too would make a nice doll.

In the end, all involved had to be brought to the hospital, that Bertha wasn´t in mortal danger was determined quickly and she was arrested immediately. 

Mrs. Hemming too, wasn´t in mortal danger, but her recovery would probably take a long time. A Mrs. Moran would replace her as Merry´s homeroom teacher.

Rebecca, meanwhile was taken to a mental institution that was specialized in children and teenagers. 

While Merry was in shock at first, she could go home that very day.

 

She wasn´t the only one, though.

-Look at me Cain- Riff´s voice was gentle. -I know today reminded you of yourself, before you met me- 

Cain nodded, Rebecca was twelve, with a single parent whose ideas of what was best for her did her irreparable damage.

-I know I was like her- Cain said tonelessly. -She drugged her mother like she had drugged her, I did the same. Only I knew what it was I did, and that it would kill- 

-Cain- Riff took his face into his hands – You did the only think you could, and I helped you remember- 

-Yes, - that, too worried Cain. -But you weren´t like Bertha, you were more like Mrs. Hemming-

-How so? - Riff asked.

-You were kind and caring, and I trapped you so you would be mine alone- 

Riff was smiling -If I am really trapped, then I never wanted to leave -

**Author's Note:**

> I drew some floating character heads here:  
>  http://hong-ara.tumblr.com/post/159148681660/some-floating-heads


End file.
